THE SHIFT OF THE PUBLIC OPINION TO THE FAVOUR OF NUCLEAR ENERGY IN

Igor Lengar, Tomaž Nemec

Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT In late August and early September of 1999, nuclear energy topics occupied a central place in the Slovenian media because of the of two new steam generators to the Krško plant, and also due to the protest action of an Austrian Greenpeace group. Before these events, the public opinion in Slovenia was not in favour or nuclear energy and Greenpeace had a good reputation. In September it has lost much credibility because of their clumsy action of protest, and in just one month this caused a shift of public opinion in Slovenia towards support of Slovenia's only nuclear power plant. The Greenpeace protest action occurred during the transport of the two new steam generators to Krško. By replacement of the old steam generators the operation of the Krško NPP will be extended until 2023. The transport envoy travelled during the first half of September '99 across a considerable part of Slovene territory, passing by the capital of Ljubljana.

INTRODUCTION colossus. Crowds started to gather at the path of the transport even an hour before the foreseen arrival. The media service of Over the last few years, the public opinion in the Krško NPP used this opportunity to distribute its Slovenia has not much favoured the use of nuclear energy. propaganda material. The steam generator transport will be In the year 1995, there was an initiative for a referendum remembered in Slovenia as one of the most widely covered to opt for immediate closure of the nuclear power plant at media events. The media coverage of this event certainly Krško. This action of the Slovenian “Green Party” was not helped to de-mystify nuclear energy. People started to lose successful, and the vote never took place. However, due their fear of nuclear energy, and to inform themselves about to a strong anti-nuclear campaign in the media, the the high technology used in a nuclear power plant. referendum result would have been uncertain. Another push in popularisation was provided by the However due to a few events in the recent past, Greenpeace organisation and politicians from , a connected to the steam generator replacement in neighbouring country. Austrian politicians have demanded Slovenia’s only nuclear power plant, the public opinion immediate closure of the Krško NPP, which makes them changed to the favour of the use of , produced at unpopular in Slovenia. The Austrian national standpoint the Krško NPP. gave strong incentive for the Austrian Greenpeace to start protest actions against the steam generator transport, and DISCUSSION eventual Krško NPP upgrade and modernisation. The first shift was noticed when the media made Early morning on the third day of the steam-generator positive reports about the reconstruction of public roads at transport 13 members of Greenpeace chained themselves the expense of the Krško NPP. The reconstruction of the to the steam generator structure, and thus stopped the roads was necessary to allow for the transport of the new transport for three hours. Activists were all foreign steam generators from the Koper port to the power plant citizens; there were no Slovenian sympathisers supporting in Krško across more than half of Slovenia’s territory. The this protest action. After the police arrested them, the reconstruction took place some months before the actual Greenpeace activists justified their action by presenting transport. data proclaiming the danger of the location of the Krško The attention of the media was focused once again on the NPP in a seismic fault. Upon the remark of a journalist Krško NPP, when the large envoy with the first steam about the safety of a few other NPPs, standing in generator started its way across Slovenia. On the first day of seismically more active territory, the activists commented transport, the front pages of most newspapers were covered that: “Slovenians are not capable of taking care of their with pictures of the steam generator, and all the TV news NPPs like others do”. Greenpeace also demanded a programs started with coverage of this event. Large public counter move from the foreign governments, as a response attention given to the transport resulted also in large numbers to the brutality of Slovenian police action during the arrest of spectators by the roadsides, who were eager to see the and unchaining of activists from the steam generator.

Before this nonsensical protest action by Greenpeace, These combined events shifted the public opinion in this organisation had a good reputation in Slovenia. But in favour of the extension of Slovenia’s NPP operation. The this action, where only foreign citizens participated, latest poll showed that only 26.7 % of Slovenians still Greenpeace used an offensive approach to the NPP support the end of NPP operation, compared to about 50 modernisation. This caused the Slovenian public and the % before these events took place. media to oppose and criticise this action. The majority of Slovenians now identify Greenpeace activists as hostile CONCLUSION groups of foreigners, which give unprofessional and insulting statements, and which interfere with Slovenian The Slovenian example illustrates, that neutral media internal affairs. coverage of events, connected with NPP’s , critics of The shift toward a favourable opinion of nuclear foreign politicians about the safety of domestic power power was enhanced in the same week, because of the plants and failed protest actions by Greenpeace can result statements made by Austrian politicians. Seeking for votes in the change of the public opinion towards the favour of in the approaching elections, they put pressure on the use of nuclear energy. This happened also due to the Slovenia to close the Krško NPP, and threatened counter fact, that Greenpeace activists were not local people, but measures. The Austrian minister of foreign affairs foreigners, and this protest action was seen by the public expressed his concern due to “the fact”, that the “eastern and the media as an interference in the Slovenian internal technology NPP” (made by Westinghouse, an American affairs rather than a true protest. company) does not meet the safety standards. The Slovenian media gave a hostile response to these REFERENCES unprofessional antinuclear statement. [1] Telraz Delo Stik; “Anketa Dela”; Nedelo 5.9.: 21 Coincidence of the steam generator transport, the (1999) failure of the Greenpeace protest action, and the political demands for the closure of the Krško NPP, as one of the issues in the Austrian elections, was a big promotion for nuclear power in Slovenia.

stop the operation 9,1% 26,7% 21,8% continue operation

not decided 42,4% did not give answer

FIGURE 1. The graph above shows the results of the latest public opinion poll, made after the steam-generator transport, over the question: “How would you vote at the referendum for immediate closure of the Krško NPP?” (Nedelo, 1999)